Katz Glass Design

3739 Sharp Street
Philadelphia, PA 19127
ph: 215-483-4628
alt: 215-482-1991
katiekatz@katzglassdesign.com

Glassblowing & Gallery Location

Process Techniques in Glassblowing

Color in Glass: Frit

First off there are many kinds of color that can be used for glassblowing. Today we are using “Frit color.” Frit is clear or opaque color that is crushed and graded to specific sizes. We use various sizes of Frit from powders to larger sized frit.

Marving in glassblowing

Once the color is applied, the color needs to be mixed together and shaped called “marving.” A marver is a flat steel plate that’s used for the picking up color chips or the shaping of molten glass on the end of a blowpipe or pipe with a rolling action. A Marver can also help in the uneven cooling of the glass for a desired effect.

Taking Gathers to build bulk for a glass sculpture:

Multiple layers of glass are taken from the Furnace to create a base for the glass blown sculpture. Each layers has to be at a high heat temperature of 2000 degrees. Glass cannot be too cool, otherwise it will break off of the punty.

The Furnace: 2000 degree temperature with clear hot glass molten melted within.

Punty - Is the hot glass or gathering that is placed on the receiving pipe for transferring the glass work that is currently connected to the blowpipe. The technique used to change the end of the glass that is being worked on.

What is the color we use in our glass?
This is the 1st tutorial video in a series of basic glass blowing and glass studio processes. These short videos cover some of the basic questions that we get from people about how we make our hand blown glass.

In this video, Bernard Katz shows examples of the color that we use to mix with our clear molten glass. He shows the various forms that the concentrated colored glass looks like before it is incorporated with our clear glass to give the glass color.

In other videos from this series, we will show various ways that we use color for our art glass sculpture. We hope that these and upcoming "how to videos" will help with some of the basic questions people asked about when visiting our studio or website.
What is a Color Overlay?
In this video, Bernard Katz narrates as Steve Stens and Chris Wheeler demonstrate how a color overlay is done in glass blowing. The color overlay is one of a few main ways that color is added to clear glass to get colored glass. Tutorial 1 showed what the bar color is that is used in this video. With this method, the color is just a thin layer sandwiched between the layers of clear glass. This gives the illusion that the entire glass vase or glass sculpture is made of that color. You can sometimes see by looking at the lip of a studio art glass vessel the different layers. The color we use is very concentrated, so generally only a small amount is needed to achieve the desired look in the finished piece.

Bernard Katz Glass

Hot Glass studio & gallery was established in 1996. We are Philadelphia's premier glass studio.

Throughout the years nationally aclaimed glass artist, sculptor and designer Bernard Katz has created from the Tree Series to the current Monolito Lighting Series.

If you wish to visit our studio for any future events, please sign up for our email newsletters Contact Us:

katiekatz@katzglassdesign.com

Our Studio Location:

Bernard Katz Glass

3739 Sharp Street

Philadelphia PA 19127

Close to I-76 Expressway, Manayunk Main Street & Ridge Ave in Roxoborugh. 5 minutes north of the Art Musuem)

We accept all major Credit Cards